


Healers

by SheepOh



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode Fix-it, Episode: s04e02 The Gift, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 08:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10590546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheepOh/pseuds/SheepOh
Summary: Kes manages to stay on Voyager after The Gift and finds ways to heal both Seven and herself.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever contribution for the [Star Trek Rarepair Swap](https://trek-rarepair-swap.tumblr.com/)

Seven would never tire of the feeling of Kes' lips on her own, she thought. She was the first person she'd ever kissed and she believed she would definitely be the last. It was perfect. Further experimentation would be pointless.

When they'd met, Seven was only a shell of who she was now, more armor than person and driven only by an urge to leave, to rejoin the collective, to reconnect. She'd barely noticed her amidst all the other enemies. That is, until the ship had been suddenly thrown far out of Borg space. Then she'd had to resign herself to living with all of them, at least for now, and had to accept the gradual removal of most of her Borg implants. That's when she'd started noticing Kes.

They ended up being roommates in that sickbay shortly after the jump through space that had nearly cost Kes her physical form. She had quickly gone back to being a nurse and not a patient though.

They were both living through hard times as Seven's body was cared for. Nobody knew how to care for her emotional and mental health. Nobody seemed to see Kes was in a similar situation either. She lived in constant fear that her abilities would flare up, uncontrollable again. According to tests they'd done on her it _probably_ shouldn't. They thought she was past that, that her abilities had reached a coming of age sort of stage and that's why they had been so intense and hard to manage. It was a bit like a rush of hormones at puberty for other species. She was only one specimen on which to base this theory, though. It was also agreed that the extreme way in which she had used that energy surplus, pushing and then rejoining Voyager, was what now allowed her to keep it in check. 

But what if that energy built up again? 

Kes couldn't help but feel that repressing her abilities, either by choice or circumstances was going against her very nature and maybe even her purpose, that this could only be a temporary solution that might end up playing against her. She thought about leaving, as she had in her panic during the incident, but this time, having more time to do so meant that she couldn't bring herself to do it. Where would she go? Could she really stand finding herself suddenly alone after living on a starship, in close quarters with so many people, for most of her life?

And that's when she thought of the young woman she was caring for, the one who, in her mind found herself exactly in that situation, and realised she couldn't leave her. She didn't really want to either. Maybe, just maybe, she'd found something that could benefit and heal them both, and she knew exactly who would listen and try her best to help. 

That's how she had found herself, one night, in Captain Janeway's quarters. She had shared her distress, Seven's, then her proposed solution. They had talked and talked, nearly all night long, until her captain was certain they had devised a solution that would work for everybody and that would prioritize everyone's safety.

This is how it had all started.

And here they found themselves, kissing on their anniversary, in the lab they had built together. It was mostly there for Kes to experiment with her abilities safely in. They'd had to use remnants Borg technology to make it more secure and so Seven's help had been required. As Seven had helped build Kes a private lab, Kes had helped her build her emotional health through telepathy.

That first telepathy session had been as if someone had blown air back into Seven's lungs. She had grabbed onto Kes' voice in her head as if it was a lifeline. She had been so alone and it was such a relief that she hadn't been able to hide it from her. Kes then saw how truly crucial this would prove to be to ease Seven in her new life, and how they had all neglected her, even if they all thought they were only doing what would turn out to be best for her. She held her through it, physically and mentally, and swore to herself that from now on, she would make sure Seven would never find herself in such pain again.

Together they shared feelings and fears and put words to them. They'd had numerous sessions, more and more often, until their life became one long continuous telepathy session and neither of them was alone anymore. 

Seven had not been the only one who had reaped the emotional benefits of this. 

''He is afraid of you'', she had once said of Tuvok, ''I have seen it in others often enough to know.''

She was right. He had grown distant from Kes since her power surge, since knowing the extent of her powers, really. He had skillfully avoided all her attempts to ask him about a joint training session. 

'' I am not afraid of you'', she responded. 

''Nor I of you. I trust you, fully.''

As they both could not yet trust themselves completely, they relied on that trust in each other. They promised that they'd watch each other, protect each other, and protect others from each other, if ever needed. They would never allow one another to hurt anybody, mostly because they both knew how it would later hurt to have hurt people who were rapidly becoming, or had already become, family. This way, they had both found someone with whom they could be completely and entirely honest and who made them feel safe. 

Safe and at home, finally. 

''Time to go home then?'', Kes asked Seven, from the comfort of her arms, between kisses.

''Considering the amount of time we spend in this lab, I believe it has now also become home'', she answered, ''But I do believe we had some...plans for tonight, which our quarters would be more appropriate for.''

''Mmmm, you're right'', she giggled before stealing another chaste but lingering kiss. ''Let's go then.''

And so they went to the sheltering privacy of their quarters, Kes slipping her smaller hand in Seven's and swinging their arms as they went. It was childish but it made them both smile, as well as the crew members they passed on their way. The crew knew all too well how special today was, and they had received many well wishes for their anniversary during the day. Neelix had even made them a special dinner earlier and left them a small heart shaped cake, as they discovered upon entering their quarters. 

They feasted on it, with champagne, no more than a glass each though, as they wished to enjoy each other's presence as much as they could and, well, Seven still could not hold her alcohol very well. They spent the night intertwined in mind and body, wishing it would never end but knowing, that in a way, it wouldn't, ever.


End file.
